Turning Worry Into Faith

Acts 16: 22-26 A mob quickly formed against Paul and Silas, and the city officials ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden rods. They were severely beaten, and then they were thrown into prison. The jailer was ordered to make sure they didn't escape. So the jailer put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stocks. Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off! (NLT)

Can you imagine the scene? We read our Bibles sometimes as if it merely contains quaint stories for us to consider. The reality is that a great portion of the Bible is actual history. It relates events that actually occurred in history. When we read the events in the Book of Acts, we need to keep this reality in mind. Paul and Silas were being harassed by a slave girl who was demon possessed. She kept following them declaring who they were. The Bible says that Paul got exasperated and ordered the demon out of the girl. Her owners were quite unhappy because without the demon, the girl could no longer tell fortunes and they stood to lose a considerable amount of money. The owners dragged Paul and Silas before the city officials and trumped up charges against them. This is where we find our key verses today. There are several truths contained in these verses for us to consider.

The verses tell us that Paul and Silas were stripped of their clothes and severely beaten with wooden rods. Humiliated and beaten. Life will often do this to us as well. Even for doing the right thing. Paul and Silas were not "wrong" in this situation, yet they still find themselves as unfair victims. This is a reality God has warned us about:

In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. Matthew 5: 45 (NLT)

We do the right thing because it is right, not because we think it will exempt us from tribulation. Paul and Silas are not only beaten to within an inch of their lives but they are then imprisoned under the harshest of treatments. They are placed in the inner dungeon with their feet secured in stocks. Again we can read things like this and gloss over them but stocks were used by the Roman Empire as not only a means to secure prisoners but also to inflict punishment. The object was not only to ensure the prisoner did not escape but to perpetually punish them as well.

I paint this picture to highlight that this is the state of worry in our lives. Worry beats us down, often in humiliating fashion. We can feel as if that which we constantly worry about has indeed taken wooden rods to our bodies. Worry also is imprisoning in nature. It is like cold shackles on our wrists, restraining us from freedom. It can be like unforgiving wooden stocks on our feet designed to ensure that we cannot escape the worry and to inflict ongoing pain and suffering during the worrying. The nature of worry imprisons us, inflicts pain upon us, and makes us feel beaten down in our lives. The word worry comes from the old English, " wyrgan" which means to "strangle" or "choke." That is how we end up feeling as the worry in our lives can often strangle us.

But within the key verses again we see the secret to overcoming worry in our lives. Paul and Silas certainly had plenty to worry about in this story. They were in a foreign country and have been accused by people wanting to see them dead. They were imprisoned in such a manner that the very nature of it was oppressive. There may not have seemed to be a way out for Paul and Silas. But within that tiny dungeon, shackled and beaten, they show us how to combat fear and worry. The first thing they did is they sung hymns to God.

Remember, we are in a spiritual battle. There is an enemy to our souls who seeks whom he may devour and the nature of worrying has devoured too many Christians. This is how the Bible describes the battle:

For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on every piece of God's armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Ephesians 6: 12-13 (NLT)

Paul and Silas knew that the jailer was not their enemy. They knew that the people who had them beaten and even the people who beat them were not their enemies. Their enemy was discouragement, fear, and worry. That was who they had to war against and that war is spiritual in nature. So they began to sing praises unto God. In the middle of their worst fears they praised God! In the middle of the dungeon, dark and dank they praised God! In the middle of their pain, humiliation, and suffering they praised God! Paul and Silas knew that their faith had to be stronger than their worry if they were to win the spiritual battle.

But You are holy, O You Who dwell in [the holy place where] the praises of Israel [are offered]. Psalm 22: 3 (Amplified)

Paul and Silas knew that God inhabits their very praises! This is why traditional church services will begin with praise and worship as the presence of God is ushered in. Paul and Silas knew that there was nothing they could do about their current situation. They could not convince the guard to let them go! They could not break the stocks! They turned from their worry to their peace! They turned from their pain to their healer! They turned from their problem to their problem solver! The same thing applies to us in our state of worry. The enemy wants us focusing on our problems. He wants us focusing on our stocks and shackles that which binds us. He knows as long as we focus on that which imprisons us, we can never look to He who frees us! If you find yourself in times of worry it is imperative that you turn your worry into praise. It reminds you who is ultimately in control God! It ushers His presence into your worry. It ushers His presence into your situation. And do not underestimate the value of His presence:

You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16: 11 (NKJV)

The truth we need to embrace today is that you can find joy in your trial. You can have joy in your wilderness. You can replace your worry with the joy of the Lord. Just remember that the battle is spiritual and that praising Him in your worry brings His presence, which brings the fullness of joy into your life.

The second thing our key verses teach us to do when we are faced with such times is we must be prayerful. We give up too easily in prayer these days. We cannot ask more than once without feeling unanswered. Consider the woman with the issue of blood who suffered 12 years before her prayers finally broke through. Consider Joseph praying for 12 years in prison before finding his freedom. We must be persistent in our prayers:

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Romans 12: 12 (NIV)

Our prayers reinforce our faithfulness in God. Paul and Silas knew full well that it would only be through the power of God that they would survive this episode. While the key verse explain that it was at the midnight hour when their prayers were answered, we can safely assume they had been prayerful and praising since they had been placed in the stocks. Sometimes, we have to wait until the midnight hour for the deliverance we seek. Sometimes it is the persistence in prayer that will result in the freedom we seek. Remember, worrying is the opposite of faith. Worrying indicates that you have a concern that you cannot turn over to God. Is your marriage bigger than God? Are your children? Your career? Is there anything you might encounter in this life bigger than the God you serve?

For with God nothing will be impossible." Luke 1: 37 (NKJV)

Whatever it is you find yourself worrying about today nothing is impossible with God. Whatever you find yourself shackled to today nothing is impossible with God. That is an expression of faith. Worry is an expression of doubt. And ultimately, when you boil it down to its simplest part it is doubting God. That is what the enemy wants. He wants you worrying instead of praising God. By doing so, he prevents the presence of God from being manifest in your tribulations. He wants you worrying instead of praying to God. By doing so, he prevents you from strengthening your faith and furthers the distance between you and God. We must remember the example of Paul and Silas. We must be praising in our pain and praying in our discomfort. It is a matter of our faith:

And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? Matthew 6: 30 (NLT)

Notice two other things from the story of Paul and Silas. One, the Bible specifically mentions that the other prisoners were listening to them as they prayed and praised God. I want you to again picture the scene. Paul and Silas are brought in bleeding and beaten. Stripped of their clothing and humility. Open wounds dripping blood, bruises visibly forming on their bodies. Placed in that condition into the innermost dungeon and fastened into painful stocks. Yet in the midst of that bloody and painful scene, you start to hear praises coming from the inner dungeon...how great, is our God, sing with me how great is our God...

The people in your life need to see the same witness for Christ that Paul and Silas showed that day in prison. They need to see you in the midst of your battle on your knees. They need to see you in a situation where the world screams "worry" and instead you are praising how great your God is. Sometimes as Christians we can fall into the trap of thinking it is all about us. It is not. We are already saved. But there is a world out there dying for a reason to believe. That day in that prison, Paul and Silas spoke more with their actions than their preaching words had previously accomplished. How do we know that? Two reasons.

The jailer woke up to see the prison doors wide open. He assumed the prisoners had escaped, so he drew his sword to kill himself. But Paul shouted to him, "Stop! Don't kill yourself! We are all here!" Acts 16: 27-28 (NLT)

The guard was going to kill himself because he knew that death awaited him if he had lost his prisoners. But the part that can get overlooked here is that Paul assures him that "we are all here." The earthquake had loosed all of the prisoners yet despite that they remained with Paul and Silas after. They did not look to run away and flee. The Bible does not say why but considering the events it is safe to say that Paul and Silas had some positive effect on the other prisoners. When you praise and pray instead of worry in your life it too will make an impression on those imprisoned around you. They will want the freedom you have; the peace you have.

The second reason is that right after this verse; the jailer turns his life over to Christ!

The jailer called for lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" Acts 16: 29-30 (NLT)

The jailer called for the lights. No longer wanting to live in the darkness he was walking in, he asks Paul and Silas what he must do to be saved. Beloved, whatever it is that you find yourself worrying about today or in the future God is bigger. Praising Him will usher His presence into your life and your situation where you can find fullness of joy. Praying will strengthen your faith, destroying your worry and the schemes of the enemy. As you develop a lifestyle of praise and prayer in response to trials and worry you will begin to affect those around you who walk in the darkness of this world. They will see what you have and want it. They will call for the lights and ask you what they need to do to be saved. THAT is turning worry into faith.

Reverend Anthony Wade February 8, 2011